Crazy, Sweet

Chapter Thirteen

“Where are we going?” I asked Seth as he led me by the hand through a trail around the palm trees that lined the undeveloped part of the beach. 

“We’re almost there, just wait and see,” he said as he helped me up a patch of boulders. I was wearing a white, tiered cotton eyelet strap dress and white flip flops—I didn’t realize we doing a bit of trail-hiking otherwise I would’ve put on sneakers at the very least.

“I thought we were going on a boat of some sort for sunset,” I was saying as we went around another rocky curve on the trail. He hoisted me up a big boulder and I looked up to him when he didn’t go anywhere else. “Seth?”

He smiled and tipped his head towards the ocean which was just steps away. I glanced at the horizon and against the glare of the late afternoon sun, a silhouette of a beautiful, big boat was outlined.

“A yacht?” I asked in disbelief. “I thought it was just a tiny boat we were going on.”

Seth took my hand and led down the long dock that extended from the shore to the deeper part of the beach. “It is a small boat. It’s got one tiny cabin but it’s got comfortable seating on the deck. It’s pretty nimble and quite fast.”

As we approached, I looked up at the towering deep red sails that complimented the boat’s dark exterior and deep brown interior panels. “It’s beautiful.”

Seth grinned and helped me up and into the deck where a bottle of champagne chilled in a bucket of ice next to a bowl of fresh strawberries and another bowl of chocolate fondue. 

“You really know how to sweep a woman off her feet, don’t you?” I asked with a teasing smile as I sat down and gazed at the almost endless stretch of ocean around us. 

He sat down next to me and popped the bottle of champagne open. He poured us each a glass and held his in a toast.

“I don’t really care if my talents work with other girls,” he said with a rakish grin. “You’re making me work hard enough to keep me busy.”

I grinned and slapped his leg lightly. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

He laughed huskily and leaned close to kiss me softly on the lips. With our faces still only inches apart, he held up a warm hand to my cheek and looked into my eyes. “Ali…”

I waited with bated breath as he seemed to struggle with words.

I wanted to hear it. I wanted him to say it. I wanted to know this was not some drugged up dream I was going to wake up from with a very bad hangover. I wanted to know I wasn’t feeling all this alone.

He smiled and pressed a quick kiss on my lips. “Hang tight. We’ll get this baby rolling.”

I smiled back and swallowed the lump of disappointment in my throat.

It could wait. Right?